Ancient maps of Taiwan: The Ming and Qing Dynasties

Author: Wang Cunli, Hu Wenqing
Publisher: Yuan Zhu Culture
Publish Date: 1993-11-01
Features: Do we know Taiwan? We have read many travel books about countries and cities, familiar with the customs and products of various parts of the world, but do we know Taiwan? Do we know what Taiwan looks like now and what it used to be like? The change of any geographical space can be roughly divided into two levels. The first level is natural change, as it changes rapidly or slowly due to earthquakes or river courses; the second level is change within human perception, as human development, exploration, and imagination give this geographical space various and bizarre appearances. The book presents a Taiwan that undergoes 72 transformations under the light of historical perspective. Different regimes and ethnic groups draw maps of their living spaces based on their own needs. First, they consider whether the map is to establish administrative boundaries such as towns, counties, and cities, or to identify mountains, valleys, and rivers. Of course, some maps focus on the storage and distribution of resources, while others take into account special needs for battles or trade. Due to these diverse purposes, the same geographical space can be presented in various ways. What makes this book interesting is these maps that seem truly unimaginable from today's perspective. The cartography of Taiwan during the Ming and Qing dynasties completely reveals how people at that time perceived Taiwan and also discloses the extent of their understanding of Taiwan. In terms of Taiwan's overall appearance, it is not the upright sweet potato that we recognize today. Sometimes it is a lying sweet potato, sometimes it is slightly rounder like a guava, and sometimes it is even a circle with a, which looks like a silly mouth. What is amazing is that our Taiwan was once considered a group of three small islands connected together? If maps reveal information about power operations, from the ancient maps of Taiwan during the Ming and Qing dynasties, we can first see the barriers caused by a lack of knowledge. The field of vision presented on the maps is often limited by the Central Mountain Range, and it is rare to find maps that include the Hualien Coast. Secondly, we can feel the "expectations" of the cartographers for Taiwan. The image of Taiwan in the eyes of people from the Central Plains was often based on the need to interpret political power and regulate the relationship between the dominant and subordinate within the empire. The landscape is like a painting, and the admiration is not only for "how many heroes there were at that time" but also for how this landscape gradually took shape through complex historical changes in the hands of these heroes.